Police paid £250,000 in compensation to people arrested over G20 protests

Freedom of information request reveals that Met also spent £140,000 in costs while settling claims by detainees

Police line up outside the Bank of England in the City of London during the G20 protests of 2009. Compensation has been paid to 66 people arrested in a raid by the Met on a disused building. Photograph: Haydn West

The Metropolitan police has paid out more than £250,000 in damages to people arrested in connection with the G20 protests in London in 2009, the bulk of it to 66 activists held during a controversial raid on a squatted building.

Information obtained under a freedom of information request by a member of the public shows the force settled 66 civil claims relating to a raid by dozens of officers on a disused three-storey office building near Liverpool Street in the City of London on 2 April 2009. Activists had occupied the building a couple of days before.

The police paid out £237,000 in damages - an average of about £3,500 per person - and incurred almost £140,000 in costs. The compensation related to claims of false imprisonment and arrest. The information was published on a freedom of information website and confirmed by the Met.

A final payout following a claim of assault involving excessive force, connected to another incident at the G20 protests, saw police pay the victim £30,000 in compensation, incurring £50,000 in costs.

It marks further embarrassment for police over the handling of the G20 demonstrations.

Police put on a show of force when they raided the squat in Earl Street, using a battering ram to break down the door before leading out about 70 occupants, many in handcuffs.

The operation was intended to round up people police believed might have been involved in trouble during the main G20 protests the previous day. At the time, some of those held complained about excessive violence, saying officers punched some squatters and carried Taser guns even though no resistance was offered.